Prologue: Dinner in Laeken (1989) Kohl's great leap forward The surgeons of French Realpolitiek Exploiting Franco-German reconciliation The Netherlands between Anglo-Saxons and Teutons Journey to the continent 1 American concepts: building Europe (1947-1949) Eternal division 2 Magical realism (1949-1951) Putting the country's mental stability to the test The Germany memorandum Atlantis and bloc formation within the Western bloc The Netherlands taken by surprise Manufacturing a tranquillizer 3 The Beyen Plan (1951-1954) The letter from 'the Ten' Red versus Catholic From Europe A game for insiders 4 Around Cologne cathedral (1954-1957) Adenauer's Abendland Coordination through Europe's backchannels With the Benelux to Sicily Rebirth as a market The latest trend The Treaties of Rome 5 A Europe of conspiracies (1957-1968) Faust in Paris Rhetoric and intrigue Market expansion by a gentleman farmer Silence is golden 6 At home in the Basel biotope (1968-1974) American dreams An alternative loan circuit Holtrop's logic Masters of the interim stage 7 Sturm und Drang (1974-1982) Late conversion The monetary trilemma Failure for Duisenberg The stick of free movement of capital 8 The hand of French-German friendship (1982-1989) A community united by blood Celebrating success and earning money Work in progress The Delors report 9 After Strasbourg: a different party than expected (1989-1992) Piet's work of art The consequences 10 European realities: defining Europe after the Cold War The direction of integration The 1990s and after The tragedy of Maastricht and Amsterdam A rediscovery Epilogue: the call of Calypso Notes Sources and references Abbreviations Acknowledgements Index of names Subject index